In Eight Scenic Caves, the light from the fruits of the Green Vine Tree shone upon cave walls, while the shimmering reflections from the underground river did likewise, bestowing tranquility and beauty upon the grotto.
Gu An walked under the Green Vine Tree, turned around with his hands on his hips, and gazed upon the area he had planted with a satisfied smile on his face.
As the saying goes, "You reap what you sow!"
The romance he pursued was in cultivating his crops and his spiritual path!
All that fighting and scheming could stay far away from him!
Immersed in self-satisfaction, Gu An's attention drifted.
He wanted to build a loft within the Eight Scenic Caves where he could take refuge and rest occasionally.
He was still young now, but in fifty or sixty years, he could follow in Cheng Xuandan's footsteps, let his senior disciple handle all affairs, and simply enjoy life.
But it was still too early to think about a senior disciple since Medicine Valley was his foundation, and not just anyone who became his disciple could oversee everything.
Many plans began to form in Gu An's mind.
First, he needed to train a Deputy Valley Master!
Xiaochuan was worth considering, with mediocre talent but honest nature, though his manner of speaking and dealing with people was somewhat rigid.
Lu Jiujia would eventually move to the Outer Sect, so he was out of the question.
Ye Lan...
No, it was best to send her away early, to avoid destroying his Daoist Heart.
As for Wuxin, that needed further consideration!
He would have to recruit more disciples!
While contemplating, Gu An looked up.
He was curious about the fruits of the Green Vine Tree; some celestial and terrestrial treasures had fruits as their form. Would picking the fruits of the Green Vine Tree explode his life span?
No sooner thought than done!
Gu An leapt up, grabbed a fruit, and tore it off.
He landed on the grass, then admired the fruit in his hand—a pumpkin-sized fruit that he estimated to weigh seven or eight kilograms.
Gu An took out a sheet of Spirit Protection Paper from his Storage Bag to wrap around the fruit's long stem, to prevent the leakage of spiritual energy and loss of nutrients.
All this was money, after all!
About ten breaths later, a line of text appeared before his eyes:
["You have successfully obtained a Green Vine Fruit (Sixth Rank) with 85 years of life span."]
Damn, that's good!
85 years of life span!
Gu An's gaze towards the Green Vine Tree changed.
This was a veritable money tree!
It absolutely must not be uprooted!
It has to be well cared for until the end, so it can be cultivated and cherished!
Excited, Gu An threw the Green Vine Fruit into his Storage Bag, and then counted the fruits on the tree. There were sixteen of the same large size as the one he just plucked, and he refrained from touching the smaller ones.
He immediately sprung into action.
Some of the fruits were in high places, and he had to climb the tree to reach them.
In that moment, he fervently wished he had learned the Sword Control Technique.
Still at the Foundation Establishment Realm, he could not yet fly or levitate, nor did he have any other means to do so.
After much effort, Gu An finally succeeded in picking all sixteen Green Vine Fruits, amassing a total of one thousand three hundred sixty years of life span.
His total life span had now reached eight thousand four hundred years!
He was getting closer and closer to the ten-thousand-year mark!
Enough!
All in one go!
Once he reached ten thousand years, he could increase his cultivation level through investment, then explore the other seven cave entrances, ensure they were clear of dangers, and then he could live peacefully and quietly!
With a plan in mind, Gu An set out to execute it.
The Eight Scenic Caves were rich with medicinal herbs, and he kept his eye on his Attribute Panel as he picked, planning to stop as soon as he reached ten thousand years of life span.
An hour later.
A prompt appeared before Gu An.
["You have achieved a life span of over ten thousand years for the first time, unlocking the Life Span Barrier feature."]
["Life Span Barrier: Consumes life span to open a barrier that can block all spying, perception, and speculation. The life span consumed depends on your cultivation level aura and the required spiritual energy."]
Life Span Barrier?
At the sight of the words "consumes life span," Gu An furrowed his brow—wasn't this asking for his life?
But after reading the full explanation, he was pleasantly surprised.
His breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Realm had already caused such a commotion, what would happen when he reached even higher realms?
If things continued in this way, he would inevitably alarm the entire Supreme Sect, something that Gu An had worried about before.
Now, he had no such fears!
This feature was too good to be true!
I like it!
Gu An chuckled to himself as he walked towards the cave entrance.
Once he broke through to the Core Formation Realm, he would explore the other entrances.
Although the Eight Scenic Caves had formations protecting them, there could still be dangers within, so he decided to break through outside, which would be a good opportunity to test the Life Span Barrier.
No matter what lay hidden in the shadows, he would face it unflinchingly!
When Gu An returned to Medicine Valley, it was already deep into the night.
He had moved into the loft previously occupied by Cheng Xuandan, which also housed many secret manuals, Elixir Records, and rare books, all of which he intended to read through eventually.
After entering the house, Gu An approached a wooden cabinet made of special wood that could preserve the spiritual energy of celestial and terrestrial treasures as much as possible—a fact previously explained by Cheng Xuandan. There were several such cabinets.
He took out all the Green Vine Fruits and placed them in the cabinet.
Suddenly thinking of something, he took out another Green Vine Fruit and placed it on the table.
Sitting at the table, he pulled out the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion Secret History from his bosom and began to read quietly.
It wasn't until the late night that the White Spirit Rat finally returned.
It ran straight to Gu An's shoulder, its small eyes fixed intently on the Green Vine Fruit on the table.
Gu An gently picked it up and placed it on the table, then waited for it to make a move.
The White Spirit Rat approached the Green Vine Fruit, sniffed its scent, then climbed on top of it and started to nibble gently.
Gu An was not clear on the miraculous effects of the Green Vine Fruit, as the Hundred Herbs Collection didn't list heaven and earth treasures above the fifth rank, so he could only use the White Spirit Rat to test it.
He let the White Spirit Rat choose for itself, banking on its nature as a Spirit Beast; if the Green Vine Fruit was poisonous, it should be able to smell it.
If it couldn't smell the poison, then Gu An would give it a generous burial.
The Green Vine Fruit was ten times the size of the White Spirit Rat, and it struggled to gnaw on it, but Gu An did not help.
Waiting was boring, so he simply decided to break through tonight!
Gu An stood up, then quietly left the pavilion, sneaking out of Mystic Valley, and headed west. He crossed mountains and valleys, travelling nearly twenty leagues.
First, he jumped to the top of a large tree and observed in all directions, ensuring there were no signs or traces of other cultivators. Only then did he sit down on a patch of grass in the mountain valley to meditate.
He hadn't consumed life span for cultivation for quite some time and found himself quite expectant.
With the Life Span Barrier in place, Gu An could safely evolve his cultivation level this time.
"Let's start with a thousand years to test the waters," he thought, feeling bold with ten thousand years of life span in his possession. What was a mere thousand-year investment?
It was just a splash of water!
He invested a thousand years of his life span into cultivating energy in order to evolve his cultivation practice.
[You have cultivated Energy Absorption for thirty years, and your cultivation level has broken through to the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment Realm]
[You have cultivated Energy Absorption for a hundred years, and your cultivation level has broken through to the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment Realm]
[You have cultivated Energy Absorption for a hundred and fifty years, and with the great accomplishment of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill, you forcefully assaulted the Core Formation Realm, starting tribulation crossing. You did not endure the Minor Heavenly Tribulation, and the tribulation crossing failed]
[You have cultivated Energy Absorption for two hundred years, and with the great accomplishment of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill, you forcefully assaulted the Core Formation Realm, starting tribulation crossing. You did not endure the Minor Heavenly Tribulation, and the tribulation crossing failed]
...
[You have cultivated Energy Absorption for four hundred and fifty years, and with the great accomplishment of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill, you forcefully assaulted the Core Formation Realm, starting tribulation crossing. You successfully endured the Minor Heavenly Tribulation, condensed a Golden Core, and stepped into the Core Formation Realm]
[You have cultivated Energy Absorption for five hundred years, and your cultivation level has broken through to the second layer of the Core Formation Realm]
[You have cultivated Energy Absorption for six hundred years, and your cultivation level has broken through to the third layer of the Core Formation Realm]
[You have cultivated Energy Absorption for seven hundred and twenty years, and your cultivation level has broken through to the fourth layer of the Core Formation Realm]
[You have cultivated Energy Absorption for eight hundred and fifty years, and your cultivation level has broken through to the fifth layer of the Core Formation Realm]
[You have cultivated Energy Absorption for a thousand years, and your cultivation level has broken through to the sixth layer of the Core Formation Realm]
Line after line of prompts crazily flashed before Gu An's eyes.
Seeing the six failed tribulation attempts, Gu An nearly ran out of breath with frustration. Was crossing tribulations really that difficult?
Accompanied by the last prompt, Gu An's body began to cultivate energy autonomously, and he instantly felt a surge of nature's spiritual energy about to erupt. He hurriedly activated his Life Span Barrier.
[Life Span Barrier activated, lifespan consumed: 0 years]
This prompt hung directly before his eyes, and as nature's spiritual energy flowed into him, the number 0 jumped to 1.
"Hope the consumption isn't too great..." Gu An silently prayed.
As the abundant nature's spiritual energy crazily flooded into him, he felt incredibly unobstructed and experienced an indescribable sense of exhilaration.
This time, he didn't move during his breakthrough, so he didn't feel any pain.
With him at the center, the ground released waves of energy that rushed towards him from all directions, diving into his body. One could faintly see an invisible barrier with a diameter of nearly fifty meters.
Gu An looked beyond the barrier and saw that outside it, there was not even a slight disturbance; the grass and trees were completely calm, clearly unaffected by him.
He became immediately curious, wondering why there was no disturbance.
Soon, he understood.
Once the barrier was up, the spiritual energy he absorbed for cultivation came from the earth's depths.
This completely put his mind at ease.
Not much time passed before his cultivation level reached the ninth layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm, and the life span consumed by the barrier had reached five years, causing him a bit of heartache.
This thing was too costly!
It reminded him of the experience of playing some mobile games in his previous life.
One word: expensive!
Just as Gu An was inwardly complaining, he suddenly saw a bright light in the distant mountains. Narrowing his eyes, he faintly discerned the scene of cultivators engaged in combat.
Ten leagues away.
Above the forest, Shi Yang swung his sword, releasing slashes of Sword Qi, sweeping through like a wild wind through the woods, scattering leaves in a frenzy.
Dressed in black, Li Ya stood atop a tree, lifting his sword before him. A powerful force burst from him, forming a faint golden bell shadow that repelled all of Shi Yang's Sword Qi.
Shi Yang's black hair whipped wildly in the wind, his face sporting a ferocious and defiant grin. He laughed loudly, "Li Ya, is this all the skill you have? You think you can contend with the Prince with such ability? Will you even make it into the Inner Sect alive?"
Li Ya's face was stern as his gaze shifted towards Mystic Valley.
This won't do!
If this keeps up, it would alert the people of Medicine Valley.
Li Ya didn't want to bring trouble to Gu An and the others. He immediately pushed his sword, dispelling the Sword Qi, then flew in the opposite direction of Mystic Valley. Shi Yang pursued closely, and both of them flew on their swords, swiftly vanishing to the edge of the night sky.
Within the Life Span Barrier, Gu An couldn't see clearly the cultivators fighting in the distance, but fortunately, the bright lights disappeared.
He dared not let his guard down; the Life Span Barrier could not probe, perceive, or deduce, but that didn't mean it was completely nullified. What if someone accidentally stumbled into it?
Time passed quickly as Gu An's heart was filled with apprehension.
Golden Core was beginning to condense inside him!
As the Life Span Barrier's consumption surpassed fifty years, his Core Formation was successful!
Although the consumption of the Life Span Barrier was high, it was within the range Gu An could accept.
Before beginning, he had been worried it might be too exploitative and drain him dry instantly.
Now, his worries had vanished into thin air.
Another thought crossed his mind.
Having reached the sixth layer of the Core Formation Realm with a thousand years, should he continue to invest in his cultivation?